Press Release

Checkered Flag Run Foundation Answers President Obama's Challenge to Help Youth Reach Their Full Potential with event to Inspire and Encourage Students via Local Sports Legends and Executives at MBK: Sports Box Dialogue

Phoenix, AZ, September 11, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Actor and former number one junior tennis player Boris Kodjoe joins an already impressive all-star panel of former Phoenix area professional athletes at the My Brother's Keeper: Sports Box Dialogue on September 12, 2015.

Kodjoe joins a long list of Phoenix area sports legends and sports executives that will share their personal stories as well as inspire over than 500 middle school and high school students about the many opportunities available to them that are beyond the court, track or field.

This free event will be held at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Phoenix is presented by the Checkered Flag Run Foundation (CFRF). This event will be co-presented by: The Black Chamber of Arizona, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Arizona Informant newspaper. This My Brother's Keeper: Sports Box Dialogue event is one of several Phoenix area initiatives aligned with President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge that was accepted by City of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and District 8 Councilwoman Kate Gallego.

The event will feature an esteemed panel moderated by the Honorable Art Hamilton and will include:

Former NASCAR Truck Series Driver, T.J. Millington, will also attend the event, along with several local executives, including Robert Sarver, owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, Bryan R. Sperber, president of Phoenix International Raceway and De Jon Watson, senior vice president of operations for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Checkered Flag Run Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides educational and enrichment resources for students designed to help prepare and motivate them to seek education beyond a high school diploma. The CFRF's mission is "investing in education to ensure every student gets across the finish line."

"As the school year commences, we want to begin planting seeds in the minds of our youth that will sprout ideas, goals and dreams that will position them for success in the near and distant future," said Alan (AP) Powell, founder of the Checkered Flag Run Foundation. "Our panel's unique experiences will provide great insight for local youth and help them to begin putting their future in perspective. We want our youth to see the big picture and the opportunities that education can afford them."

"Even though the likelihood of a young athlete pursuing a career in professional sports is quite low, the graduation rate of college athletes is over 80 percent," Powell continued.

- Free & Open to the public - registration requested as space is limited

- Bonus Arizona Diamondbacks Outing: The first 500 youth in attendance with an accompanied adult will receive complimentary tickets, souvenir t-shirts and transportation from Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, to the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game that evening at 5:10 p.m. at Chase Field, and back to the Church following the game.

For more information and to register for MBK: Sports Box Dialogue, visit http://cfrf.org. The event will be held at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church (1401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix AZ 85034) from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Doors will open at noon. For additional information on this event, call: 602.258.0831.

About Checkered Flag Run Foundation

The Checkered Flag Run Foundation is a 501c3 charitable organization that makes available school readiness tools for elementary and middle school students, career educational resources such as career inventory assessment/workshops for high school students to close the gap, and serves to increase educational attainment beyond a high school diploma.